


Spend The Night By My Side

by vulcanhighblood



Series: In Your Arms [3]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Alpha Umino Iruka, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Canon-Typical Violence, Cuddling & Snuggling, Discord: Umino Hours, Gen, Hypothermia, Injury Recovery, M/M, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Naked Cuddling, No Sex, No Smut, Non-Traditional Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Omega Hatake Kakashi, Pre-Relationship, Umino Hours Winter Bingo
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-29
Updated: 2021-01-29
Packaged: 2021-03-15 11:54:11
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,427
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29063904
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vulcanhighblood/pseuds/vulcanhighblood
Summary: Iruka's going into rut, which he assumed would be the biggest problem with returning to Konoha late - then he stumbles across a wounded Kakashi, lying facedown in the snow, and his own troubles seem far less urgent by comparison.
Relationships: Hatake Kakashi/Umino Iruka
Series: In Your Arms [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2129064
Comments: 14
Kudos: 207
Collections: The Umino Hours Winter Bingo 2020





	Spend The Night By My Side

**Author's Note:**

> My ninth work in the Umino Hours Discord Server's Winter Bingo.  
> Written for the prompt: Hypothermia

Grumbling under his breath, Iruka trudged through the snow, tugging his scarf tighter around his neck to ward off the chill. He was more cranky about being sent on a solo mission than usual, mostly because he’d been forced to get a substitute teacher for his class, and he knew that the particular sub they’d gotten for him never actually followed the detailed lesson plans Iruka left behind, so he was going to be a solid week behind schedule by the time he got back. To make matters worse, his rut had started a day early. Iruka had hoped to be back in the village, warm and cozy in his den, ideally with Naruto nearby if not within arm’s reach, so he could feel comfortable and reassure himself that his pack was safe. 

Instead, he was slogging his way through the last snow of the season, frustrated and wishing with every step that he could just cuddle under a blanket and tuck his pup into bed at night. But no. Instead, he was about thirty minutes out from the last safehouse between here and the village. Could he have slept out in the open? Technically, yes. Did he feel like it when he was on the cusp of rut and already feeling under the weather? Absolutely not. It was a little out of the way, but wouldn’t add more than an hour to the overall trip, and -

He froze midstep, his conscious mind racing to catch up with whatever his subconscious had picked up on, tension running down his spine as he scanned the area. He smelled… blood. A lot of it. And pretty recent. Casting his eyes around the clearing, Iruka finally spotted a slightly discolored area in the snow. It looked a lot like mud from this distance, but he was almost certain it wasn’t. Cautiously, Iruka crept towards the pile, only to discover that whatever - whoever? - had bled here, it was no longer lying on the ground, though it had left enough residue to linger in the air. Because his rut enhanced his olfactory senses, Iruka had picked up on it sooner than he would have otherwise. 

Now examining the area more cautiously, Iruka caught sight of small nicks on several of the trees - clear signs of kunai or shuriken having been thrown around here, and recently. Frowning, Iruka continued forward, now moving as silently as possible, well aware that if there had been a fight, there was no guarantee that either party was an ally. 

Cautiously, Iruka picked his way through the trees, when he caught sight of a collapsed figure in the snow, sprawled out like they’d dropped suddenly and hadn’t had the strength to pull themselves back to their feet. Since they were facedown, it was hard to identify whether they were friend or foe, though the uniform they wore  _ looked _ like the ones worn by Konoha jonin. Iruka edged closer, his nose pricking as he caught the scent of more blood, and…

Kakashi.

Caution tossed aside in his concern, Iruka rushed forward, turning the jonin over and cursing under his breath. The man was bleeding sluggishly from a wound in his thigh, and another few cuts across his arms. What really had Iruka concerned was the blue tinge to Kakashi’s skin, indicating he’d lost a lot of blood. Not to mention the fact that he’d been  _ lying in the snow. _ Iruka glanced around, realizing that he’d followed Kakashi’s trail in the direction of - oh. Of course. Kakashi had been headed for the safe house. Had he been pursued? Had he defeated his opponents? 

Clutched in his grasp, Kakashi shifted slightly, his eye springing open as he moved like a flash before Iruka even had a chance to react. His kunai stopped inches from Iruka’s left eye, his face wrinking with confusion. “...Iruka-sensei?” Kakashi said blearily, his eyes as glazed and confused as his expression. “What’re… you…”

“Were you followed?” Iruka asked. “Who attacked you?”

“No,” Kakashi said, then, “they’re dead, it’s fine.” He fumbled for one of his pouches, but his fingers were too clumsy to pop it open. Iruka helped him tug it open, and Kakashi managed to tug out a sealing scroll. “They’re in here.”

“Okay,” Iruka said, “okay. Let’s get you to the safehouse, then.”

Kakashi nodded, his eyes fluttering shut again. Iruka scooped the lanky man up over his shoulder, recognizing that the jonin wasn’t in any shape to be walking, and began hurrying to the safe house. The sooner he could get Kakashi out of the elements, the better off he’d be and the quicker his recovery would be. 

He picked his way across the snowy landscape carefully, as he didn’t want to jostle Kakashi too much, but he sacrificed some of his caution for speed, reaching the safehouse in about fifteen minutes. His own discomfort with the snow forgotten in the urgency of getting Kakashi treated, Iruka lugged him into the safehouse before easing him to a seat at the table. The safehouse had a small table with three chairs, and it looked like a wood stove was set back into the wall. There was room to lay out a futon or two, so Iruka did that first, taking out the futon and blankets before rushing back over to Kakashi and pursing his lips. “Kakashi,” he said, “I’m going to have to undress you.” 

Kakashi, who had seemed perfectly content to breathe shallowly with only the occasional shudder working through his system, still managed to produce a smirk at that. “Mm,” he said in a dazed tone, “very forward of you. I like that in a man.”

Iruka wasn’t sure if that was a sign of mental confusion, or just Kakashi being an ass, but he decided it didn’t matter in the moment. “I’m just letting you know,” Iruka snapped, before plucking off Kakashi’s wet flak jacket. He grimaced at the blood soaking the inside - while only a little bit of blood had escaped the slice to appear on the outside of the flak jacket, it was clear Kakashi was bleeding badly. His shirt beneath the flak jacket was quite heavily soaked on the left side. Iruka peeled the shirt off too, then worked Kakashi’s pants off, leaving him in his underwear. He quickly draped a blanket around Kakashi’s shoulders before removing his hitai-ate, which was cold from the snow. He considered the mask, and finally decided to leave it, as it would dry soon enough so long as he lit a warm fire. Realizing that meant he should probably get the fire started, Iruka plucked some firewood from the stack in the corner, urging the stove in the room into a cheery blaze. He then picked up the dripping pile of Kakashi’s bloody, soggy clothes and hung them to dry on a rack near the stove, which was clearly intended for just such a purpose.

Once he’d finished that, He was back at Kakashi’s side with the safe house’s first aid kit, bandaging his deeper wounds before wrapping him back up in the blanket and trundling him off to the futon, which he’d dragged in front of the stove after a moment’s consideration. Kakashi’s pack hadn’t contained a change of dry clothes, and Iruka’s own clothes were balled up in the bottom of his pack, soggy from yesterday’s snow. He regretted not leaving his dry clothes for later, as Kakashi could have used them, but there was no use beating himself up over something he coudn’t have anticipated. Instead, Iruka set about making some warm soup for Kakashi, who had managed to start shivering under the blankets. That was a good sign, but when Iruka popped over to check on him, his hands were still cold as ice. Glancing back at the soup, Iruka grumbled under his breath before removing his own soggy clothes, and hanging them next to the jonin’s clothes, internally apologizing to Kakashi for not having time to wash the blood out.

Then, Iruka crawled into the futon next to Kakashi, hissing at the chill of the body lying next to him. Iruka knew he ran hot normally, but the temperature difference between his body and Kakashi’s was far more stark than it should have been. In a way, lying next to Kakashi almost felt like lying next to a corpse. In response to this, Iruka drew the jonin close to his own body, taking some comfort in feeling the occasional shiver and the steady rise and fall of Kakashi’s chest, a simple reassurance that the man wasn’t actually dead. Though he might have been, if he’d been lying out in the snow much longer. Iruka lay curled around Kakashi until he noticed the fire beginning to die down. Kakashi seemed to have warmed a bit, too, so Iruka thought it was probably okay to ease out of the blankets and try and find some hot water bottles or something to try and continue warming him while he tended to other tasks.

Sadly, the safehouse did not come stocked with hot water bottles, so Iruka settled for stoking the fire and then crawled back in with Kakashi, hissing through his teeth at how cold the man still felt. Aside from the smart remark he’d made when Iruka had stripped him of his clothes, Kakashi had remained remarkably silent, just lying under the blankets, breathing, and occasionally shivering. He seemed to be shivering more now, which was good, as it meant his body had actually started trying to warm itself again. The problem was that shivering also took a lot of energy, and Iruka wasn’t sure how well Kakashi was doing in terms of energy reserves after losing so much blood that he’d collapsed in the snow. Unfortunately, the safehouse came stocked with just as many blood transfusion kits as it did hot water bottles - which was to say, none. 

Instead, Irkua ended up going back to the soup and heating it up a second time before tugging Kakashi into a vaguely upright position, still surrounded by blankets, and settling him back against his chest, his knees propped up on either side of the Jonin to hold him steady in front of the warm stove. Then, he poked Kakashi’s shoulder. “Hey. You need to eat something.”

“Mm,” Kakashi grunted, peeling his eye open to gaze at Iruka. “Okay.”

“Do you want to hold the cup yourself?” Iruka asked, “Or should I hold it for you?”

Frowning in concentration, Kakashi managed to flop one of his arms out of the blanket and stared down at it for a long second before sighing. “You should hold it.”

“Okay,” Iruka reached over to where he’d set the cup of soup, carefully maneuvering it to Kakashi’s lips. The man sipped carefully at the soup, and Iruka watched him drink until he was about halfway finished with the soup, at which point he stopped drinking, glancing up at Iruka with a curious look.

“Are you in rut?” he asked, and Iruka felt his entire  _ body _ flush.

“Oh,  _ shit,” _ he cursed, having somehow managed to completely forget himself in the rush to make sure Kakashi was being treated for his hypothermia and combat injuries. “Yes, I am,  _ shit, _ I’m sorry,” Iruka set the cup of soup down. “Do you want me to back off? I can back off. You still need to warm up, but I could go outside or something.” He didn’t  _ want _ to back off. In fact, now that he was thinking about it, his every instinct was  _ screaming _ at him to protect Kakashi, to care for him, and not let the man out of his sight while he was in such a vulnerable state. But he was a rational person first, and an alpha second, and if Kakashi was uncomfortable then he would keep his distance, like any decent alpha would.

“It’s fine,” Kakashi said, “I just wanted to make sure my nose was working, I thought you smelled different.”

“Oh, yeah,” Iruka felt his face heating and was incredibly grateful that Kakashi’s back was resting against his chest so the man couldn’t see just how red his face probably was. “I mean, my scent usually gets stronger during my rut.”

“No suppressants?” Kakashi asked, turning his head to glance back at Iruka with a lifted eyebrow.

“It started early, and the snow made me return later than expected,” Iruka explained, then considered that statement. “Probably a good thing that I was late, though, since I was able to find you before you froze solid.”

Kakashi huffed in amusement. “Lucky me.” He didn’t sound like he was mocking Iruka, simply agreeing in his own sardonic way.

“Are you going to finish the soup now?” Iruka demanded, lifting the cup again.

“Fine, fine,” Kakashi agreed, and Iruka lifted it back up to his lips for him to sip. He finished the soup in short order, and Iruka scooted them both back under the blankets, arms still wrapped around Kakashi, cradling him against his chest. It took him several long seconds of sustained skin-to-skin contact to realize that this could be a very uncomfortable situation for Kakashi, who was an unmated omega. But Kakashi also needed to warm up, and their clothes were still dripping puddles on the safehouse floor. 

“Um. I can put a blanket between us,” Iruka said awkwardly, staring up at the ceiling. Kakashi was sprawled halfway over his chest, one leg tucked between Iruka’s, and he weighed almost as little as  _ Naruto, _ which was a bit disconcerting. Did the man not eat enough, or had he lost some weight on his most recent assignment? He knew that Kakashi still took the occasional solo assignment when he wasn’t running D-rank missions with his students, but those shouldn’t have been very long term, so it seemed more likely that the man was just… thin. No  _ wonder _ he got chilled so easily, he had no insulation! He was all elbows and knees and lean muscle. 

“I’m fine right here,” Kakashi said, head tucked under Iruka’s chin. 

Secretly, Iruka was glad to hear it, because he really didn’t want to let Kakashi go at the moment. He  _ knew _ it was his stupid alpha instincts telling him to hold onto the omega, to protect and provide for him, but that didn’t change the fact that he still  _ felt _ those things. Iruka was a pretty overprotective person already, and being in rut just tended to heighten his paternal instincts. Though he was fairly certain that what he felt for Kakashi wasn’t so much paternal as it was… well. At least Kakashi wasn’t pressed against him in a compromising position, and Iruka was doing his best to keep his mind focused on Kakashi’s wellbeing. So long as he could focus his alpha instincts on  _ protection  _ and  _ provision, _ he could probably keep them from turning to  _ procreation. _

Hopefully. Otherwise he really  _ would _ have to go sit outside for a while until he could calm down. 

Curled up on his chest, his shivering finally starting to fade as his body was finally returning to a normal temperature, Kakashi turned his head so his nose was pressed against Iruka’s throat, and he inhaled deeply, a low rumble sending a different sort of shiver through his body. If Iruka weren’t already lying stiffly on his back staring awkwardly at the ceiling, that  _ definitely _ would have done it. His face, already quite hot with embarrassment, felt like it might catch flame at any moment. Kakashi was  _ purring, _ after he’d  _ scented _ Iruka. He’d  _ scented Iruka and then purred. _ Iruka felt like all other facts and information he’d previously been trying to focus on had been completely scattered by the simple knowledge that Kakashi had  _ scented him. And then! He’d! Purred!! _

An omega’s purr wasn’t something to be taken lightly. It was something they did only when they felt safe and comfortable, they only purred with people who made them feel protected and secure. To be in the presence of a purring omega was the highest honor for anyone to receive. As an alpha in rut, it hit Iruka even harder than usual, because an omega’s purr meant that he was taking good care of the omega, protecting and providing for them in a way that made them feel safe. Normally when he was in rut, Iruka would set a little time aside to spend some quality bonding time with Naruto, and the little pup would curl up beside him, purring away like the sweet child he was. It made Iruka feel so much better, to know that Naruto felt safe and comfortable with him, and never failed to help his rut pass more easily. 

Kakashi purring, though… it didn’t quite hit the same as Naruto’s purr. Probably in part because Kakashi was an  _ adult _ omega, and not Iruka’s pup. It also likely had something to do with the fact that Iruka liked Kakashi, and he was starting to suspect that maybe Kakashi liked him, too. They’d never really discussed it, preferring to dance around the topic and stare at each other from across the room without actually speaking to one another. But Kakashi had been comfortable with Iruka when he’d been in heat, curling up beside Iruka and trusting him in a vulnerable state, which had meant a lot to Iruka, though he hadn’t really said anything about it, and Kakashi had proceeded with life as if the incident hadn’t occurred. Until not much later, when Kakashi had welcomed Iruka and Naruto into his nest, which was also a big deal, especially for such a private person as Kakashi. They hadn’t really talked about that, either, and now they were lying together, more naked than not, with Iruka going into rut and desperately trying not to read into Kakashi  _ scenting him and purring. _

“You warming up yet?” Iruka asked, frantic to try and find an outlet for his awkwardness. Surely conversation would make this better, right?

“Mm,” Kakashi said, his breath puffing along Iruka’s bare collarbone. “Yeah. You’re warm. Feels nice.”

Well shit, that didn’t do anything at all to dispel the tension, and in fact made Iruka even  _ more _ tense. “Good,” he said faintly. Kakashi continued to lie half-on, half-off his chest, his breath ghosting softly over Iruka’s chest with every breath. Iruka wanted to scream, because for all the effort he’d put into focusing on  _ protecting  _ and  _ providing for _ Kakashi, his brain seemed to have diverted almost completely onto the  _ procreation _ track and he was terrified that his body might start physically responding to Kakashi’s contact at  _ any moment, _ and he didn’t want Kakashi to think that all he could think about at a time like this was the closeness of their nigh-naked bodies _ , _ even though the sad truth was that all he  _ could  _ think about at the moment was the proximity of a nearly naked Kakashi. After five more agonizing minutes, Iruka decided that Kakashi was probably warm enough for Iruka to make more soup, or  _ something, _ anything to get away from the awkward position he’d put himself in.

He started to sit up, but Kakashi snaked an arm around his waist, snuggling closer. “Don’t go,” he said in a plaintive voice, “you’re  _ warm.” _

“I was going to make soup,” Iruka managed to say, trying not to think about the  _ increased physical contact _ and the way Kakashi’s face was tucked into the crook of his neck.

“Don’t want soup,” Kakashi said petulantly. “Want  _ you.” _

Iruka felt like he could  _ hear _ high-pitched sirens going off in his head even as he told himself  _ very firmly _ that he was not allowed to read into Kakashi’s sentences, especially not when the man was recovering from hypothermia and was still likely suffering from significant blood loss. “I really think you should eat something,” Iruka said faintly. “You know, keep up your strength.”

Kakashi just made a grumbly noise in Iruka’s ear and maintained his firm grip around Iruka’s waist. “Eat later. Sleep now.”

“I have to add more wood to the fire before we can sleep or it’ll go out,” Iruka protested, beginning to wiggle in Kakashi’s admittedly not-all-that-powerful grasp. It was more than a token protest, but wasn’t really in danger of keeping Iruka in the futon if he wanted to get out. 

“Nooo,” Kakashi groused, throwing his leg over Iruka’s, probably intending to double-up on the restraining appendages, except that he lifted it too high, nudging against Iruka’s… 

Well, anyway, despite his best efforts, Iruka hadn’t managed to completely rid himself of the whole  _ procreation urge, _ which would be fairly obvious to anyone who were to, say,  _ wrap their leg around Iruka’s upper thighs. _

Kakashi froze. Iruka froze. For several long seconds, neither dared to so much as breathe. Then, Kakashi cautiously drew his leg back, clearing his throat uncomfortably. “Right,” he said in a low, careful tone. “Soup.”

“Soup,” Iruka echoed, feeling as though his blush had spread from his face to probably overtake his entire body. He wriggled out of Kakashi’s grasp. This time, the omega let him go without complaint, and Iruka tucked the blankets tight around Kakashi before he shoved some more firewood into the stove and blindly began heating some more soup on the stove. “Do you want tea?” he asked, scrounging around for a kettle before discovering that the pot the soup was in was the only thing they had to boil liquid in. At least the safehouse had two cups, so he could always pour the soup into the cup and then heat the water to pour into the second cup. 

“Don’t  _ you _ want something to eat?” Kakashi shot back.

“I’m fine, I’ll eat rations or something,” Iruka assured him. “You’re the one who needs to warm up.”

“You don’t have to worry about me,” Kakashi said softly. “I’ll be fine. You’ve already done more than enough.”

Iruka felt his stomach clench uncomfortably as he stirred the thin soup, swallowing hard. Was that his way of telling Iruka that he wasn’t comfortable being cared for, anymore? “Kakashi-san,” Iruka began, barely managing to keep his voice steady, “If you’re feeling uncomfortable, I can go. I said I would, and I meant it.”

“No!” he exclaimed, drawing Iruka’s eye. Kakashi struggled upright, completely ruining all the effort Iruka had gone to when he tucked the blankets around him. “No, I… I just don’t want to be a burden.”

Iruka scowled at Kakashi. “You’re not a burden. If anything, being able to spend a night  _ with _ someone in this safe house is a  _ blessing. _ I thought I’d be holed up here alone, and really, being in rut when you’re alone is only  _ slightly _ better than being in rut around another alpha in rut,” Iruka scrubbed at the back of his head sheepishly. “Two tetchy alphas in a room is pretty terrible, but one tetchy alpha alone with his thoughts is almost as bad.”

Kakashi squinted at Iruka for a long moment. “Worse than being trapped with a deadweight omega?”

“You’re not a deadweight,” Iruka snapped, “You were injured and you’re already doing much better than you were this afternoon, I have no doubt you’ll recover in no time at all.”

Kakashi shrank back into the blankets in the face of Iruka’s wrath. “Okay,” he said in a small voice. “Sorry about, uh…”

Iruka felt his face heating again. “Oh. That. Yeah,” he laughed, a little too loudly, a little too forced. “Biology, you know. That’s my bad.”

“If it makes you uncomfortable, you could probably get another futon,” Kakashi said. 

“You think you’ll be warm enough for that?” Iruka asked, frowning a little.

“I don’t want you to be uncomfortable,” Kakashi insisted stubbornly.

“I’m not,” Iruka protested, “but I’m also in rut, so I can see how that would make  _ you _ feel awkward.” 

“I trust you,” Kakashi said simply, sinking lower in his blankets, tugging them tight around himself so that only his head was poking out of the pile. “If you think it’s fine, then it’s fine with me, too.”

Iruka felt his heart leap in his chest at that. Although Kakashi had shown his trust through his actions, and his  _ purrs, _ he’d never actually come out and outright told Iruka that he trusted him, and the fact that he felt confident enough to actually say it made Iruka’s heart ache, but in a good way. “Okay,” he agreed, turning back to the soup and stirring it more gently this time. “I’m fine with it, then.”

“Good,” Kakashi said in a quiet grumble. 

This time, when Iruka brought the soup over, Kakashi’s hands were steady enough that he could hold the cup himself, though he scowled at Iruka until he finally went and dug his rations out of his bag so the two of them could eat together. After finishing dinner, Iruka did go ahead and tug his second set of clothes out of the bottom of his bag, realising that Kakashi’s clothes were damaged enough by the rips and tears and blood that he’d probably need to borrow a set from Iruka. He hung them up by the fire, checked to make sure the other outfits were drying, and then stoked the fire again before crawling back into the futon beside Kakashi.

Kakashi very pointedly  _ did not _ try to crawl closer to Iruka, and for some reason that made Iruka feel bad. “Are you cold?”

Shuffling awkwardly, Kakashi scooted until their bare arms were lying next to one another. “A little.”

“You can lie closer to me,” Iruka said. “I won’t do anything.”

“I didn’t think you would,” Kakashi protested immediately, turning on his side to glare at Iruka. “I just didn’t think you’d want me so close again after…”

Iruka smiled ruefully at Kakashi. “It’s fine. I’m in rut, so my instincts tend to be a bit more on the surface than usual. I don’t blame you.”

“I don’t blame you, either,” Kakashi shot back, then poked Iruka’s shoulder. “Roll over. I want to lay by your side.”

Iruka complied, rolling over so that Kakashi could press close to Iruka’s back, his bare chest resting against Iruka’s shoulderblades. Cautiously, he snaked a hand around Iruka’s waist, his hand no longer freezing cold but instead comfortably cool against Iruka’s skin. Kakashi leaned his forehead against the back of Iruka’s neck, inhaling deeply as that rumbling purr of his started up again. This time, rather than allowing himself to stress about it, Iruka shut his eyes and simply basked in the sensation of being held close by a contented omega. 

It was easily the best rut of his life.

**Author's Note:**

> Kakashi and Iruka head back, Kakashi swimming in Iruka's spare clothes. he doesn't seem to mind it much :3
> 
> (Big thanks to Kitera_Matar for encouraging me to run with this prompt!)


End file.
